July Runfessions: Friday Five 2.0 Style

July 28, 2017

Happy Friday and welcome to the end of July! (Booooooo!!!!) Today I’m linking up with Marcia for the Friday Five 2.0 meets July Runfessions. I don’t have much to tell, but I do have a few things. Let’s get to it, shall we?

July Runfessions: Friday Five 2.0 Style

I runfess…

1. Training is tough.

Even though I’m only four weeks into training for Marine Corps Marathon, I feel like I’ve been training for months. Oh wait… I have. I’m likely feeling the effects particularly bad this week because I really haven’t gotten good, quality sleep and it’s catching up to me. While I’m in training I try to get about 8-9 hours of sleep every night. I know to some people that may seem like a lot, and I’m lucky if I get that many, but 6 hours does not cut it for me. Especially when I’m logging 35+ miles per week.

I’ve also been screwing around with my nutrition — and not in a good way. This seems to be derailing my longer runs so it’s time to get my butt in gear and really focus on getting enough calories to fuel my workouts.

Training is tough. ‘Nuff said.

2. Running is amazing.

I speak the truth. I really, really love running. In one of my training groups, one of my runners said she really hopes running becomes easy for her one day. I assured her it will. I distinctly remember when I started enjoying running. Yes, I still have bad days (uh, hello, Thursday!), but more often than not, I truly enjoy lacing up and getting outside. Do you remember when the switch flipped for you?

3. I wish my husband would run more with me.

We’re different paces and I run much farther than he ever has before so we’re not a super compatible running couple. But I wish he would run with me more because we always have so much fun together. I think when our kids are a little older and scheduling becomes a little easier, we’ll be able to run together more often. Can’t wait!

Love running with this guy and the pupper!

4. I don’t want summer to end.

I freaking love summer. I love everything about it. On the one hand, August whisks my kids back to school and we settle back into a nice routine. But on the other hand, August signals the end of summer. And that makes me sad. Because summer is amazing!

5. Fall programming is a challenge.

I’ve been working on a few projects for the fall (which I’m very excited about), but the more I dig into the logistics, the more I remember how difficult planning fall outdoor activities can be. I used to run a playgroup — it was a really big, active playgroup — and when I would post outdoor activities, we were always faced with what to do in case of inclement weather. The same goes for running/athletic activities. Granted those are easier to execute in the rain than a playdate with toddlers, but it’s still a challenge nonetheless. I think I have things under control finally, but for a while there it was a real head scratcher!

I think that covers my July Runfessions. I’m looking forward to my kids going back to school so I don’t have to run at o’dark thirty every day. I think that will save me most from sleep deprivation. But I will miss summer, that’s for sure.

Don’t forget to link up with Fairytales and Fitness and me for the Friday Five 2.0. August and September themes have been posted here. If you choose to link, please follow the rules — “five” format and read/follow at least two other bloggers in the linkup!

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64 Comments

It’s great that you recognize that sleep is so important to your training. I have really bad sleep habits and they are catching up to me! Summer is not my favorite time of year but I do love the early light, which already is not so early any more.

I hear you on the sleep. I typically get 7-7.5 hours but with that I need a naps . I always feel a sense of sadness as summer winds down. The rapid passing of time is SO evident right now. Cannot even remember when that switch flipped for me with running. I’m just glad it did!

I need more sleep, too! I wish my husband would run – period! Every few years he runs a few miles at a time with me and we have so much fun. I agree training is hard. I can’t believe NYCM is in less than 16 weeks.

That’s how my husband is, too. He’ll run up to 2 miles on his own but not really. I don’t want to egg him on because then he won’t run with me at all. But I want to be able to run like, 6 miles with him. 🙂

My husband and I do run together, mostly when we have a race planned. He could probably beat me in a one mile race, but other than that I always finish before him:) I try to get 8 hours of sleep per night, but sometimes it’s 6.5-7. Summer has flown by!!

I agree, summer is absolutely amazing. Summer always flies by way too quickly, and I’m always sad when it comes to an end. I plan to cherish and make the most of these last couple of weeks of summer before the season changes.

My husband doesn’t run at all…and I still don’t know if I’m happy or sad that he doesn’t. I really like doing my own thing. I usually get around 7 hours of sleep a night, but now 5 weeks into my marathon training, I’m starting to feel the need for more as well. And yes…summer is flying by, but fall is my favorite time of year, so no lamenting for me!

I totally agree with you on the sleep thing. Everyone is different of course but I have been not been sleeping well and it’s making me feel not myself. It’s hard to hit your workout goals when you are not well rested. That is one of my goals for the rest of the summer.

I need a lot of sleep and always have. Now that I don’t really sleep in anymore, it means I have to go to bed earlier. But on the bright side, that means I can get my run done early on Saturdays and have the rest of the day for errands and relaxing.

The end of the summer makes me sad too. We actually start school in August this year and we never did that before we usually start in September. But at least we get out in May next year. When do your kids get out of school for the summer?

I love running with my husband as well bit with young kids we don’t always get the chance. I also don’t want summer to end. For me, running elders easier the more I do it (and strength train = no injuries).

I started the playgroup on meetup.com. It was just after I had my son and literally had no one to talk to! At one time we had about 150 families in it. It was a lot of fun. We recently moved the group to Facebook and it’s kind of reinventing itself. I’m a lot less active than I was when my son was little but it seems like there’s a new group of young families wanting to participate more. It’s a lot of fun!

Definitely agree with you – training is tough, especially in the summer! I feel like I’ve lost my love of running this summer and it’s frustrating me. I’ve technically been “in training” since February (Brooklyn Half, now Chicago) so I think I’m just feeling a little burnt out. I know it will get better though!

You and me both. I feel like we’ve been very parallel this year. I started training in January so I know how you feel. I’m not burnt out yet since I had a nice break after Grandma’s. But I’m definitely exhausted.

I’ve been fortunate to run all but 1 of my marathons with my husband. We are pretty evenly paced, (I may be a bit faster). 😉 But with young kids, finding the time for both of us to train has been our challenge.

And, I love summer! Not at all ready for it to end when I go back to work next week!

Even though my summer kinda tanked immediately after the Grandma’s finish line, I still don’t want it to end. It doesn’t feel like I’ve really had a summer ((whomp))…..but, alas, I’m making do and not cooped up inside, looking out of a big a picture window. The hubby runs with me some of the time…but not at 5:00 a.m. LOL

When I first started running the best thing that was said to me was “most people don’t run long enough to stop hating it” and guess what it worked. Now whenever I start running again after a long time away I always remind myself about that.

I’m seriously hurting on the fatigue thing too… been getting up at 4:30ish so I can get to the gym to run by 5, then on to work. For some reason I’m getting to bed later than when I was running in the evenings.

My husband used to be much faster than me too, but now that we have a child, he’s put off running and i’ve kept training, so we’re nearly the same pace! Even better if he pushes the stroller. Even so, we rarely get out for a run together anymore, maybe 1-2 times a month.

Oh yeah, when my husband pushed the stroller we were much more compatible runners! But now our kids are too big for the stroller so we have to get creative and run when they’re doing other things like school or camp. 🙂

Oh my gosh, I wish I could say that I don’t want summer to end!! Actually, I love summer and don’t like it to end ….it’s just the freaking unbearable heat that I’d like to see go away ….far, far away. 🙂

The hubs and I run different paces as well. He tries to slow down for me but I still end up running just a few feet behind him (even at his slower pace) But I do love it when we run together!

I really don’t want summer to end, either, but I am looking forward to some fun stuff in Aug. My family is coming out to visit for my big 4-0 and I can hardly wait! We’re also planning a road trip at the end of Aug or early Sept to visit my husband’s family.

[…] Wednesday was my 6 at 6 morning with some friends. We had a nice run and then I ran two more miles with my husband and Trixie on the trails. We had a blast. I hope we get to make running together more of a thing. More on that HERE! […]

[…] I’ve been struggling through my current training cycle. In fact, in my last two runfessions (July and August), I made mention of how difficult training was becoming. Burnout has been a constant […]